RSS/RP-0/RO Question

[Ultimate Steve]

Hello, about a week or two ago I decided to try out the realistic career mode mods, and I ran into a bit of a problem. I have unlocked an engine (I think the RD-103) which is the first big engine you get, and I've been having a problem with it. The engine is not throttleable, so I have to put a huge fuel tank in front of it to keep the rocket from going too fast in the lower atmosphere. However, eventually the engine fails, and leaves me with 3/4 of my fuel unused. This is getting really annoying. I would like to remove the mod that is causing the failures, but I do not know which one it is. I installed RSS RP-0 and RO via CKAN, and did not include many other mods besides the required ones for those big mods. I would appreciate any help with this.

[FullMetalMachinist]

I'm not certain, as I've only had time to dabble in RO/RP0 very briefly, but I believe that you're exceeding the rated burn time for that engine. Every engine has a length of time that it's rated to burn for, any longer than that and the chances of failure go way up. I think that is all controlled by the Test Flight mod which (again, I think) is a requirement of RP0. 

[NathanKell]

@Ultimate Steve um...I'm unclear on what's going on here. What do you mean by "too fast"? Fast is good! Do you, like, not have an upper stage and/or payload on the rocket?

[Ultimate Steve]

I do have an upper stage on the rocket. However, the first stage rocket will fail before I have used up my first stage fuel. Because of that, I shortened the first stage so I wouldn't waste fuel. However, that means I have a tremendous TWR, and I can't throttle down with the engine, and burn up in the atmosphere on ascent due to heating.

However, I read up on how TestFlight works, and if I understand correctly I have to use that engine more for it to gain reliability. Do you know of a way to turn TestFlight's failures off?

[NathanKell]

Can you post a picture of your craft in the VAB, with MechJeb's Delta V stats window open and it set to show all columns? I really don't think the issue here is TestFlight...